eBay advised sellers of higher shipping rates that are taking effect in the New Year.
“The major U.S. carriers have announced their 2026 rate updates. As always, eBay continues working closely with our carrier partners to secure increases that are lower than standard commercial or retail rates, helping keep eBay Labels pricing as competitive as possible.”
However, the marketplace failed to remind sellers that they would be paying higher fees to eBay since it bases commissions on the total amount of the transaction, including shipping. In addition, sellers who offer “free shipping” must either absorb the higher costs or raise their prices – an important reminder omitted from eBay’s advisory on Monday.
The full announcement is a must-read for sellers; some important takeaways include the following:
- Shipping carriers are changing surcharges – be sure to read each carriers’ changes carefully. As eBay wrote, “To help avoid unexpected surcharges, always double-check your package weight and dimensions (length x width x height) to ensure they fall within the carrier’s limits for the service you’re using.”
- USPS peak pricing rates will end and the new rates will take effect on January 18, 2026 (and doublecheck USPS nonstandard and noncompliance fees for 2026). The eBay shipping calculator will automatically update when the new rates go live.
- FedEx 2026 rate increases take effect on January 5, 2026 for all services, except FedEx 2Day One Rate, which will increase on January 19, 2026. Starting January 12, 2026, FedEx will introduce an update to how it assesses the Additional Handling Surcharge, which eBay advised “can materially impact how certain packages are classified and priced.”
- UPS: “As of now, there are no announced rate changes to 2026 UPS shipping rates on eBay. However, effective December 22, 2025, UPS rolled out its surcharge rate updates. “Starting January 26, 2026, UPS will also introduce an important update to how certain surcharges are assessed, including the Domestic Additional Handling Charge – Dimension and the Domestic Large Package Surcharge. Rather than using maximum dimensions, UPS will transition to a cubic volume maximum, calculated by multiplying length × width × height.”
In addition to carefully reading eBay’s post, sellers are advised to do their own research on 2026 rates and surcharges for the shipping carriers and services they use.
